TOPEKA, Kan. – Five cases of the California variant were found in Shawnee County over the weekend, said Craig Barnes, division manager of the health department’s Community Health Outreach and Planning program.
Barnes said this variant is 20% more contagious than the U.K. variant but said vaccines are still effective. The California variant was first found in July 2020 and is one of the most common variants of concern in the U.S.
The new variant joins the 44 cases of the U.K. variant in the county, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Barnes said it is fairly common that counties report multiple different types of variants at the same time. Douglas and Jefferson counties also have cases of the U.K. and California variant, but both have a combined total of six variants of concern.
KDHE’s dashboard said Shawnee County has the second most confirmed variant cases behind Sedgwick County, but the dashboard has yet to update its numbers to add the five new cases of the California variant.
Variant cases are likely underreported because not every case of COVID-19 is sent to a lab for testing.
COVID-19 cases continue to remain steady in the county even with the presence of the U.K. variant, but health officials said case counts could easily spike because of the variant’s more contagious attributes.
“A large proportion of adults and all children (under the age of 16, in Shawnee County remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to infection,” said new virus mitigation recommendations from Erin Locke, the county’s health officer.
Locke released new guidelines after the county confirmed cases of the California variant.
The recommendations continued to push for mask-wearing, social distancing and proper hygiene. Those recommendations also said mass gatherings for indoor events should be no more than 75% of the room’s capacity, with outdoor events capped at no more than 1,500 people. Both gathering limits still require social distancing.
These suggestions are only recommendations and not restrictions. The Shawnee County commissioners had voted to turn health restrictions into recommendations on March 18.
